The present invention relates to electric-assisted turbochargers or fuel cell electric motor-driven turbocompressors that have electrical terminal block assemblies for receiving electricity.
A terminal block is typically an assembly that has one or more electrical contact surfaces that are physically and electrically isolated from each other. For example, terminal bars may be retained within a non-conductive block and may be physically separated from each other by non-conductive partitions. Such terminal bars provide a way to connect two or more wires of common polarity or phase together without using a splice or other permanent physical joining technique. Further, the terminal block may serve to provide electrical isolation between wires of differing polarity or phase and/or isolation between the wires and an enclosure containing the terminal block assembly therein.
In electric-assisted turbomachinery applications, such as for electric motor-driven turbocompressors, electrical connections may be required for rotating a rotor of the compressor. For example, in a dual-stage motor-driven compressor, a low pressure compressor wheel is provided at one end of a rotor shaft, and a high pressure compressor wheel is provided at the other end of the rotor shaft. Electricity supplied to a motor stator through a terminal block causes rotation of the rotor, such that air entering the low pressure side of the dual-stage motor-driven compressor may be compressed, and compressed air from the low pressure side that has been passed to the high pressure side may be further compressed to achieve a particular pressure as required by the specific application. Thus, a terminal block may provide a way of connecting and isolating motor wires and other cabling that may be required to support the particular application.